The Dead Have Something to Say
by Cee
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! Is a Bonnie and Clyde story version of Bride of Frankenstein with lots of frills, though it never quite lands in one place. For its faults, it takes some interesting chances in asserting its individuality. A new spin on an old tale, falling on the other end of the spectrum from Del Toro’s recent “Frankenstein” release.
Its strengths are in its heart and its quirkiness. While it contends with issues that hold weight —consent, inequity within the gender binary, the male gaze, violence against women, and questions of love — it does so with a whimsical flare supported by one incredible performance by Jessie Buckley.
The heart of this movie, Buckley brings mania, heart, rage and love to her character. Balancing between her possession by Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) she teeters between two characters in manic fervor, trying to find her place in the world, and discover her identity for herself. She does well to traverse the mashing of genres
(horror, drama, noir, musical).
However, that mix of so many genres can leave the viewer disoriented. At times, it’s like watching separate movies stitched together haphazardly — a fitting theme for Frankenstein, though maybe not the best movie approach.
The other important thing here is that ultimately, The Bride of Frankenstein is a horror, and while thankfully this isn’t a regurgitation of that, it does severely lack in the horror aspect. The over humanization of the roles to drive home Gyllenhaal’s message really beats the fun scares out of you. Her approach fails to use horror as the vehicle it is to make her point clear, instead opting to be more on the nose.
The strength of this movie is found in how it builds upon its predecessor. In the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein, The Bride! (also created as a companion for Frankenstein) fears Frankenstein. Only a few moments of screen time that end in rejection and ultimately, death. In Gyllenhaal’s take, we get a deeper dive into the idea of a man being “made for a woman.”
In this iteration, it is about the empowerment of this woman to choose herself and live her life on her terms. In the end, she is “nobody’s bride,” though she does love and wish to be with Frankenstein. It is the idea that to be loved does not mean to be owned. It’s a powerful commentary on love, power, and control within relationships.
As long as you’re not married to the idea of the movie being a bastion of horror, “The Bride!” is an interesting concept movie, and worth a watch if you have time. If nothing else, you get to see Christian Bale as a sexually frustrated Frankenstein, which I’m not sure was on anyone’s bingo card for this year.
